TV WATCHERS: Hear the new Hawaii Five-0 theme

August 31, 2010|By Kathy Lauer-Williams, The Morning Call

CBS is pushing the song from the highly anticipated remake of "Hawaii Five-0" which features Bethlehem Township native Daniel Dae Kim, reports The New York Times . The Freedom High grad, best known for his role as Jin-Soon Kwon on the series "Lost," will play disgraced cop Chin Ho Kelly in the new show and is seen in the clip below of the orchestration of the theme.

Kim is featured along with Alex O'Loughlin who plays Steve McGarrett, Scott Cann who plays Danny "Danno" Williams and Grace Park who plays Detective Kona "Kono" Kalakaua, a man in the original series.

The theme song from the original "Hawaii-Five-0" series is one of the most iconic parts of the show. Research by CBS found that 70 percent of people over 35 were familiar with 'Hawaii Five-0,' while 70 percent of people under 35 were not, but even those who didn't know the series, were familiar with the song.

Even Kim who was born in 1968, the year the original series debuted, says he recalls the opening of the show and its memorable theme song. The theme was originally written by Morton Stevens, a CBS executive, and popularized by the instrumental group the Ventures. The new version doesn't alter much of the original arrangement.

CBS is apparently putting the big guns behind the remake with a barage of commercials for the show including promotional partnerships with General Motors and Hawaiian Airlines and a contest, through CBSCollegeSports.com, called Hawaii Five-0 Marching Band Mania.

For those interested in comparing the new and the old, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today through Friday, Spike cable channel, is running a marathon of the orignal series interspersed with previews of the new version.